Desmond Bailey, a retired Alabama Army colonel whose regiment assisted in the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and later worked with the Prattville and Eclectic police departments, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, according to Eclectic police.
“His colleagues described him as courageous, selfless, and fearless,” the Eclectic Police Department said of Bailey, a corporal at the time of his death.
“Cpl. Bailey, you will be greatly missed,” the department said. “Rest in peace, and may God welcome you home. We love you brother. We will take it from here. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. We will release funeral arrangements at a later date.”
According to WSFA, which initially reported Bailey’s death, no cause of death was given. He was in his early 50s.
According to the department, Bailey participated in Iraq Operations Iraqi Freedom and Spartan Shield before joining the Army.
In December 2003, his Army unit assisted in the capture of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and Bailey described the operation and his other military experiences in the 2022 book “Recon 701: A Story of Resiliency, Brotherhood, and Triumph, as told by the troopers of G/10 CAV.”
The book “is not a memoir of Des Bailey,” he said earlier this year at a meeting of the Elmore County Historical Society, according to the Wetumpka Herald.
“I wanted the book to be real comments and experiences from the soldiers, from when we were training to when we first found out we were going to deploy, the good times and the bad.” “From the capture of Saddam to dealing with PTSD when we were redeployed home,” Bailey explained.
Bailey worked in local police enforcement after leaving the army, first with the Prattville Police Department and subsequently with the Eclectic Police Department.
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